


Transcend

by jeien



Category: Sound Horizon
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-23
Updated: 2014-08-23
Packaged: 2018-02-14 08:11:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2184318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeien/pseuds/jeien
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Through the sea stars, Noel encounters someone who helps him keep going.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Transcend

**Author's Note:**

> This is mostly a "What if?" fic and somewhat of a wish fulfillment for me after seeing all the similarities between Hiver and Noel. Everyone wants these two to meet somehow, even in fanart! So here it is.

“Something… Anything…”

It’s been five hours since Noël began to brainstorm for song ideas. Some of the boys dropped by every now and then to see if they could help him kick-start his head. And for the most part, they gave some pretty solid advice: make it about something you know well, something you saw in a dream, something you’re passionate about, something you want to share. Then again, Jun-Ji told him that if all else fails, make a song about what he ate for breakfast—and that might not be such a great idea for their epic debut single.

Heaving a frustrated sigh, he grabbed his notebook and went outside to jog a few laps around the grassy area beside his apartment complex. Noël figured a little exercise would help him with his block. Except after a few minutes, he was flat against the grass with wobbly legs and still no clue about a song.

Noël rolled over to lie on his back, notebook still in hand. He saw a handful of stars faintly twinkle through the muddy night sky above him—the lucky ones who managed to pierce the polluted veil keeping them and modern humanity apart. Maybe when they’re famous, Noël thought while a gentle night breeze caressed his face, they can go someplace where they can see all the stars shine across the sky.

“Yeah,” he yawned, closing his eyes, “that sounds nice.”

He felt peaceful for the first time all day in the darkness behind closed eyelids. His breathing slowed to match his relaxed state. It felt like the ground suddenly disappeared, like he was weightless. Soon, though, the wind started to pick up speed. He blearily opened his eyes halfway, expecting to have to run indoors to beat an incoming storm, but there was no ground beneath him.

Noël’s eyes shot open as his body flipped forward, leaving him to fall stomach-down through what looked like a sea of stars. It should have been terrifying as hell and he knows he should be reacting a lot worse than just trying to take in the lights and colors of space, yet there was a certain thrill that surpassed any joy he ever had in his life: more than singing, more than guitar, even more than the band. With his tied, silver hair trailing behind him, he was almost like a falling star.

The night sky around him began to fade into white like worn fabric. It faded into a place that has no sun, no moon, no clouds. There was only snow—and Noël crashed into a thick pile of it.

“Damn,” he swore, spitting out the cold slush. Where was this, anyway? It wasn’t winter in Japan yet.

“Are you alright?”

“Huh? Whoa.” Noël looked up and fell back onto his rear, startled by the man who suddenly appeared out of thin air. What’s more, he was stunned by the man’s appearance. “You… You look like me.”

“It would seem to be that way, yes.” He had an accent, Noël realized. Aside from that and the fact that the man looked like he was cosplaying some strange character, they could totally pass for twins. The man’s red and blue eyes narrowed with concern when Noël remained silent. “Are you hurt?”

“Oh, no; I’m okay,” Noël replied, hurriedly getting on his feet. He dusted the snow off his coat and pants. “Thanks for asking, though.”

“That’s good,” the man said. “And also quite impressive, considering you fell from the sky.”

“Yeah, I…” He paused for a moment, trying to mentally retrace his steps. “I don’t know how that happened, to be honest.”

“Neither do I. For as far as I can recall, the only ones here were the sun, the moon, and myself.” There was no sun or moon Noël could see, but he was starting to learn to leave things unquestioned. All this must be a wild dream. Maybe he can write about it when he wakes up.

“Seems kinda lonely, in my opinion,” Noël remarked. “Can’t you leave?”

His look-alike smiled wistfully. “I’m not meant to leave. I never had the luxury of life and therefore cannot go anywhere else. I can only wait here as the _romans_ of all the people in existence are being written. And when they unfold completely, I will be here to bear witness to them.”

“What’re they? These ‘ _romans_ ’ you’re talking about, I mean.”

“In your language, they mean ‘stories,’” the man explained, looking up at the barren sky. “But they transcend those born from spoken tales, from ink on paper. They are joys and sorrows, victories and struggles, gains and losses, men and women, children and adults, thoughts and emotions. They are the tales spun every morning and every evening, as long as life and death exist.”

The words made no sense, but somehow, he got the idea. Noël felt a cold drop softly land on his head, snapping him out of his confusion. Joining the stranger’s gaze, he saw the first snowflakes dotting the empty expanse above them. It was only after he refocused his eyes that he noticed something else past the flurry that was speeding down towards them. Noël took a step back, ready to make a run for it.

“No need to worry,” the stranger reassured him. The one dot in the sky became two dots—and then became two _girls_ , clad in blue and violet. Their fall slowed until they were gently floating in front of the man. “Hortense and Violette will not harm you.”

“I thought you said you were here by yourself.” Noël repeated dumbly.

“I had said that the only ones aside from me are the sun and the moon. And here they are.” The two girls—Hortense and Violette, was it?—curtsied with a respectful _Bonjour, monsieur_. It would explain the weird tattoos on their cheeks, at least. But then what does that make his look-like, who has both markings on his face? “They will escort you back to where you belong.”

To leave this person to be sequestered in such a lonesome place tugged at Noël’s heart. It hadn’t been long that they talked, but he didn’t feel like he was ready to leave this place yet—to leave him alone with nothing but the stories he would never experience for himself. Without thinking he asked, “Will I ever see you again?”

“The sun and moon shall always watch over you, bearing witness to your _roman_ as it blooms,” the stranger explained. “Perhaps you will forget this encounter completely. But your _roman_ will surely come to me upon its completion.”

Hortense and Violette walked over to flank Noël’s sides. They each took one of his hands and, with their power, lifted him off the ground. There were so many things swirling in his head and so many questions he still wanted to ask his look-alike. But he’ll settle for one.

“What’s your name?”

The man smiled and replied, “They call me Hiver.”

“Hiver,” he repeated softly to himself. The two girls floated up in the air with him and began to take him higher. “I’ll find you through the stars then, Hiver! No matter what it takes! And when I do, I’ll give you my _roman_ myself! I’ll tell you all about it and you won’t be alone anymore!”

Hortense and Violette took him higher and higher. The white sky slowly disappeared as the stars surrounded him once more. He hadn’t even noticed Hiver’s two companions leave his side until he was falling again—through the ocean of lights and distant worlds. He closed his eyes as he descended: the smile Hiver wore as he left that world was the one he wanted to see in others as he played his music. It was the smile of someone who felt that Noël made a difference in their life. _Almost makes a guy wanna cry_ , he thought to himself, unaware of the tears that flew from his face.

The wind stopped whipping around him and it was only then that Noël opened his eyes. He was back in the grassy area by the apartment, in the same exact position he had first laid down in after his late night jog. Sitting up, he looked at his watch: it was almost three in the morning.

Without any hesitation, he grabbed his notebook—just out of reach from where his hand had been—and jotted down words. A melody came afterwards, which he hummed experimentally to himself.

“ _Kanashimi ni oitsukarenu you…_ ”

**Author's Note:**

> The last line is the first line of Yodaka no Hoshi, if you didn't know, haha. 
> 
> By the time the official MV aired in Japan, I was already a good hundred words or so in, so I wanted to make accommodations. That being said, it doesn't follow the MV entirely because, hey, this isn't a retelling. However, I did want to include the falling scene. I just fell in love with it.


End file.
